Viola Davis is the latest star to receive a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. The Fences actress had her husband, Julius Tennon, and daughter, Genesis, with her to accept the honor on Thursday.
“Only thing I could think about is my dad,” Viola told attendees during her acceptance speech. “I wish he were here,” she added. “He died in 2006 and, um, he would think this is pretty fantastic.”
Viola reminisced on her upbringing that was rife with hard times. “The only picture I have of myself as a kid in kindergarten is with a little … sucker and an expression that’s not really a smile, not really a frown, just something,” she shared. “But every time I look at the little girl, I always thought, ‘Oh, that’s a cute outfit but she was always hungry, she was always shy, she was always kind of in the background, but inside she had big dreams bursting.'”
“The only thing I could think about is that saying, ‘What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls the butterfly,” the star continued. “I cannot believe my life right now … that Meryl Streep spoke at my Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony with my handsome husband and a beautiful daughter and my family and my representatives … all I can say is, ‘God has blessed my life in abundance.'”
Viola Davis has seen many nominations for an Academy Award during her career as an actress. Her performance alongside Denzel Washington in Fences has led to her nomination for a 2017 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actress.
Genesis is Violas Davis and Julius Tennon’s only child. The little one celebrated her sixth birthday last October.
